Hermione never liked flooing much either, truth be told. The green flame creeped her out (it was unnatural!) and even though she knew it wasn't true, she felt as if everyone could see her whizzing by their open fireplaces on the way. They landed after was seemed like forever. It was a modest looking kitchen, old fashioned at best, and Hermione thought it was quaint.
"This is nice." she said, dusting dress off. Severus just smirked.
"This is the servant's kitchen, Hermione." he said. "It's not even attached to the main house." Her eyes widened and then narrowed.
"Then why did we floo here?" she asked.
"It's not proper to just land in someone's clean living room." he said. Sometimes the fact that she was muggle never crossed his mind but sometimes she didn't know basic society behavior. "I'm afraid I might have not been as honest with you as I should have been." he said and she looked a little scared.
"Go on."
"It's not just a house." he said. With that, he moved and opened a weathered wooden door and pointed to the main grounds. She moved to the door and audibly gasped. The house was enormous. It was a mansion. It was beautiful. It had beige, stucco walls, almost in a sprawling mission style. Beyond the house were miles and miles of grapevines. The sky was blue, the sun warm, and the air sweet.
"This is yours?" she asked, eyeing him.
"When my parents died I was left with their – considerable fortune." he said. "It's not something I spread around and it isn't something I find very important. I still work like everyone else. At first I worked at Hogwarts because I was safe there and then I was a spy and now… now there is you." he said, drawing her near to him. "I hope this doesn't change your perspective of me."
"Of course not." she said, instantly. It did, though, how could it not? She knew money changed people. Ron Weasley would not be Ron Weasley if he'd had a pocket full of Galleons all the time. The house was beautiful though and she longed to see it.
"Leave the luggage, the elves will see to it." he said. She'd traveled in muggle clothes – a summer dress that swirled around her calves in the breeze in a lovely soft blue. They walked hand in hand towards the looming house. There was a swimming pool, a garden, tennis courts (he'd learned of the muggle sport on year and taken a liking to it), and then the house. It was only two stories but sprawling. The floors were tile and the whole house was practically windows and sliding glass doors, always letting light it and allowing for the best of the views. "Do you like it?" he asked.
"I adore it. It doesn't seem you, however." she admitted.
"Ah, well I didn't much want to be me when I bought it. It is very secluded though. I rarely leave the grounds when I come here. There is a wizard town – you can barely call it that – a few miles one direction and a muggle village in the other direction. I hope you won't be bored."
"I doubt boredom will be a problem." she said. "There's a library?" He nodded.
"A potions lab, as well." he said. "I figured I could continue my research and if you'd like you could help." he said.
"Hmmm, working with a potions master in his lab? Sounds dreadful." she said sarcastically, wandering away to what looked to be the master bedroom. She pushed opened the double doors and smiled in delight. The bed was of wrought iron frame but not, she noticed, four posters. It was a sleigh bed, really, with curves and white sheets and a lovely brown comforter. To the left she saw the master bath and to the right was a balcony overlooking the pool. "Let's never go back." He chuckled. He saw their luggage was already in the spacious closet and he moved to remove his traveling cloak and ash covered outer garments. It was warm and he rarely wore anything other then black wool but in front of Hermione he didn't feel like being so buttoned up. He left his trousers and white shirt on and turned to her.
"Do you wish to change or unpack?" he asked. She waved her wand so all the ash disappeared – a much easier feat on a simple cotton dress than on the expensive fabrics he wore. They unpacked, hanging their clothes side by side and putting their toothbrushes next to one another in the holder. Once settled in, he suggested they do a little shopping for food in the wizarding town. He pulled her close and apparated them there and she was delighted in the quaint old town. They were all speaking Italian – or dialects of it – that she couldn't understand but he surprised her by greeting the shop keeper in the dialect. He smiled at her and she closed her mouth. Severus certainly was full of surprises today. They bought milk, bread, cheese, fruits, vegetables, and an assortment of meat; Plenty of the basics so they would not have to return to town for a couple weeks at least.
When they returned to the mansion, they put all the food in the main kitchen which had a mixture of muggle and wizard appliances. There was a large, stainless steel refrigerator that used electricity but was bewitched to be much more environmentally friendly. Hermione immediately set about making them sandwiches for lunch while Severus disappeared into the cellar to find a bottle of wine for them to drink with the food. He came back up with a bottle of red wine – "I loathe white," he said – with a beautiful label on it. It said in an ornate script, Snape Vineyards and the 'S' on 'Snape' was a swirling serpent upon closer inspection. He opened the bottle with a flick of his wand (Hermione blushed as she was about to rise to dig through the drawers for a corkscrew) and poured them both a glass.
"Tell me about your research." she said, pushing her plate away, sated and taking the wine glass to nurse lightly as she leaned back in her chair.
"I was wondering when you would start asking about that." he said, leering seductively at her. "I kept you distracted for quite a while."
"Yes, well, you're very good at distraction." she said, blushing. The wine was making her a bit tipsy and she liked the way his eyes felt on her, roaming her body in the tight, strapless dress. "But I would like to know, now, if I am to assist you."
"I've not written about it." he said and she knew he meant in any potions journals which meant his research was either very new or very unorthodox. Her interest was immediate. "What do you know about time, Miss Granger?"
"Well, Professor," she said, playing along, "Only the basic theories… Einstein's theory of relativity and what I learned for myself from the use of the time turner. It seems that time cannot be changed or altered but it can be interrupted. Does that make sense?" she asked. When he said nothing, she continued. "When I used the time turner, I thought I couldn't change anything because it would alter the flow of time but then I realized that my altercations to time were actually a part of the past. When we saved buckbeak from execution… I realized I had to warn myself by throwing pebbles because pebbles had been thrown at me hours before."
"What did you know about the time turner its self?" he asked.
"They are rarely issued because mismanagement often causes the irresponsible user's insanity. There are a few that are like I had, only strong enough to go back a couple hours but Headmaster Dumbledore told be that the first time turner invented was able to go back decades." she said. "It's a very complicated charm, bringing a turner to life and only a few know it."
"All a good start." he said. "What many don't know is that the time turner is not only charmed but it involves potions as well."
"How so?" she asked, confused.
"Inside the hourglass." he said. "It's not sand."
"It's a potion!" she exclaimed. "Of course."
"The smallest amount of a very powerful potion that when combined with the certain charm can conquer time." he said.
"So what is your experiment?" she asked, the wine forgotten and her buzz gone replaced by curiosity.
"Changing the potion to experiment with what the time turner can really do. How far back can you go? And can you change the where as well? Perhaps even going forwards instead of backwards. Pausing time. There is a whole range of possibilities." he said. "I've only just begun but I thought perhaps we could spend some time on it while we're here." She nodded enthusiastically already itching to read his notes and start some of her own. "Not this afternoon, though." he said.
"Of course." she said, reigning herself in. "What would you like to do?"
"I would like to get you in the smallest bathing suit imaginable and watch you turn brown by the pool." he said. She chuckled a bit and shrugged.
"As you wish, Sir." she said and cleaned up the dishes with a wave of her wand. The bathing suit she had was not very skimpy. It was a one piece made for swimming laps more then turning on professors. She'd been on the swim team when she'd gone to muggle school. At Hogwarts there was not swimming pool that she'd ever found (though that never meant very much) and while some brave souls went into the lake when the weather finally turned favorable, she was never one of them. Just the thought of swimming over mer-people with spears or an enormous squid was enough to put her of swimming for seven years. She swam at home during the summer and now it was much the same. She'd started to think of Severus at home. She pushed the dark thoughts of leaving him away for another time though she'd not forgotten the piercing, judging eyes of Lucius Malfoy and the way his words had made Snape's backbone straight as a board. Instead she focused her energy on the black one piece laid out before her. She cut it in half with a muttered spell and then transfigured it into a two piece. She'd seen a few in catalogues at home on her mother's sun porch and Lavender had a new one every year, each less fabric than the last. She never swam but would lay out in the sun near the Herbology greenhouse (she claimed the light reflecting off the glass helped her tan faster) and gave all the boys (and some of the girls) a free show until inevitably professor McGonagall would stomp out and make her come inside. Lavender had always thought that five Gryffindor points was well worth her tan.
Now, looking at the two triangles and a string that compose her once modest suit, Hermione sent silent thanks to her blonde roommate. The bottoms could retain their basic shape – she just gave them better hems. Donning the suit and finding her sunglasses – a very muggle contraption because most wizards just charmed their eyes to reflect the sun but Hermione thought it was a style thing. She was Holly Golightly hiding behind her giant dark glasses – a reference surely lost on Severus. She trotted downstairs with a fluffy towel over her shoulder. Severus was already sitting under the shade of a large umbrella reading from a dusty book and scribbling notes. She sauntered past him, dropping her glasses right onto his notes, smearing the fresh ink and causing him to growl in a way meant to frighten seventh years and completely destroy first years. She didn't pause and he looked up. His look of irritation faded into one of longing and then outright hunger as she placed her towel carefully on a dry bit of pavement, tapped her wand over her head and said a spell to protect her skin from sun damage and then dove gracefully into the large, rectangular pool with nary a splash. She swam a few laps to reacquaint herself with the feel of swimming, of the water. There was no chlorine to tinge her hair green in this pool. It was a wizard's pool and she assumed it was self-cleaning – no nasty chemicals needed.
Snape watched her form shoot back and forth across the water and had to fight the urge to throw caution to the wind and dive in after her but he was not an athlete but a scholar and the pool was there when he bought the house and it was just easier to keep it. He'd never been inside of it, not once, but he had to admit it did look rather refreshing on such a warm day. He didn't even own any proper swimming gear. He was sweating a bit in his wool pants and linen shirt, though he'd unbuttoned the shirt nearly all the way, letting his pale chest seen a little sunlight. Hermione's head popped up over the side of the pool and she looked younger than usual.
"You ought to give it a try." she said. It was because her hair was straight, heavy with water, he mused. She looked like a fourth year.
"Do you think?" he asked, actually considering.
"Yes." she said, pushing herself out of the pool. The water fell off her in drops, sliding down the plane of her stomach, taking a detour through her belly button, and some of the drops curving over her hips. He wanted to lick the water from between her breasts. "If, of course, you're done ogling me." she snickered. He said nothing, unaware of anything above her shoulders. She walked towards him and pushed the shirt off his shoulders.
"I haven't… anything proper to wear." he said, though he had to clear his throat several times for the words to emerge.
"We're alone here." she said. "You don't need to wear anything." she pulled him up and started to undo his pants. She purposefully grazed the hard lump there a number of times and he was openly groaning now. "I suppose I'm rather good at distractions, too, eh?" she said, yanking down the pants as well as his boxers shorts and it was a relief to spring free, as it were. She crouched down to remove his socks, one at a time, her face level with his waist.
"Tease." he murmured, pulling at her head with his hands but she resisted. She stood and led him to the pool.
"It's better if you just jump in rather than easing yourself in." she said. He rolled his eyes and walked a few meters to the steps and walked in without showing any reaction to the temperature. She shrugged and dove in, swimming to meet him where he could stand and she couldn't. She tread water for a few moments before he pulled her to him and kissed her like a starving man. She wrapped her legs around his waist, letting him support her weight and he walked forward so her back was pressed against the side of the pool where he made love to her, twice. He decided from then on that they should swim every day while they were on holiday because swimming was fun.
That night, she was exhausted from the sun and Severus was examining his skin in the mirror.
"It hurts." he said.
"Yes, it's a sunburn." she said. "Why didn't you use protection?"
"I'm never in the sun." he said. "How long will it hurt? I feel hot and cold at the same time." he said, pressing his fingers to the red skin of his chest and shoulders.
"You're probably a bit feverish." she said. "Come here. Lay down, I know of something that will help you." He obeyed and climbed into the bed. The silk sheets scratched his tender skin and he tried not to move. She went out to the garden where she'd seen some succulent plants growing and she broke off a few of the leaves. He eyed her suspiciously when she came back in, her hands full.
"I don't think spiny weeds will help the discomfort." he said petulantly. She rolled her eyes in a very Snape like manner and ordered him to sit up. She squeezed the pulp of the plant out and rubbed it carefully into the red parts of his skin. He felt a little better, soothed. "If we were at school there would be potions for this."
"Yes, well, muggles use this plant. We've improved on it, of course, but really the basics will do in a pinch. Now, it should fade a bit each day. You've learned your lesson now, though, yes?" she said. He glared at her and extinguished the lights with a wave of his wand. It wasn't dark, though. The moon shone in through the glass that led to the balcony and his features glowed. She rolled on her side to look at him, her expression serious.
"What's on your mind, love?" he asked, knowing he was being inspected.
"Malfoy." she said, knowing it was no use to lie to him.
"I told you not to let that bother you." he said.
"I know. I just… I wonder if it might be best for me to…" but the words wouldn't come.
"No." he said.
"If we had this time and then I bowed out gracefully… We could have the summer but I don't want you to lose your reputation. You've worked hard for your status and I bring you down more pegs then are worth it."
"Is that all I am to you? Your summer fling?" he asked, sitting up forcefully.
"No!" she said. "I love you."
"Then stop talking rubbish. I care little of Malfoy or anyone else's opinion." he said. "You approve and Albus approves and that is all that matters and I won't hear anymore of your self indulgent nonsense." he said. "Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir." she said.
"Silly, silly girl." he said, laying back down and pulling her body close to his. His skin radiated heat. "One million points from Gryffindor from your complete lack of faith."
"I'm a professor now too." she reminded him. "One million points from Slytherin for not seeing that I'm trying to do what's best for you. Also, for being a prat and taking so many points from the obviously superior house."
"Obviously superior?" he squawked, laughing. "Nonsense! You are silly and delusional and I think you ought to be taught a lesson. Over my knee, young lady." She was laughing now he was kicking the bed linens down so he could pull her tiny frame across his lap and lift her short nightgown where her bottom was bare and laid his palm against in a sharp slap that caused her to shriek and laugh and beg him to stop all at once. He did and she squirmed around until she was next to him once more, her face against his shoulder.
"I'm sorry I doubted you." she said.
"You should be." he replied, still a little cross. "I adore you and if you don't know that by now then I'm afraid you never will."
"I know." she said. He kissed the top of her head and she snuggled closer to him. They fell asleep with the covers down by their feet, the heat of his burn keeping her warm. When she woke up, it wasn't quite morning. The sky outside was grey with the very beginnings of light. She felt exhausted – her limbs heavy and she wasn't sure what woke her. Severus was heavily asleep next to her tangled in the white sheet. She was a little chilled so she scrambled down to the end of the bed to pull the heavier blanket off the floor and over her. After a few minutes, she decided to get a glass of water and padded to the bathroom to stick her head under the faucet. She'd only been gone a moment when the bathroom door flew open and Severus with a somewhat crazed look in his eye lunged for her, holding her tightly to him.
"Hermione." he said, but it came out like a sob.
"Good heavens, what happened?" she said, trying to straighten out and look at him properly but he was holding onto her too tightly. She'd not even turned the water off yet.
"I woke up and you were gone." he said. "You weren't there." This surprised her. She knew that he was slowly become more and more attached to her (as was she to him) but this was the behavior of a desperate man. She recognized the signs of a nightmare on him. Confusion, desperation, and fine sheen of sweat covering his now faintly pink skin. It was probably one part fever and one part his past. It scared her, sometimes, how very little she really knew of him.
"I'm here. I just went to get a drink. I'm here, Severus." she said, finally hugging him back. They'd sunk down onto the bathroom floor in a tangled heap and she rocked him slowly back and forth on the brown bathroom mat. "I'm not going anywhere." He was openly crying on her shoulder now, big body wracking sobs. She'd walked Harry through a number of nightmares during the summers and 12 Grimmauld place (Ron would sleep through the end of the world) and sometimes the emotion was just overwhelming. Finally – minutes passed – his breathing returned to normal and she could tell the exact moment he became fully aware of his surroundings. His body went from completely limp to completely rigid and he jerked away from her.
"What you must think of me." he whispered, scooting away from her. He looked like a frightened child, scurrying from her, completely nude, and wiping away his tears with the back of his hand.
"Don't do this, don't close off now." she pleaded, but he was already off the floor and out of the bedroom, his robe gone. She couldn't decide whether to follow him. Outside the sun was beginning to rise in earnest now. She wished she could ask someone's advice. Only Harry and Ginny knew of her friends. She wished her mother wasn't so disconnected from her life. She was – really – barely nineteen and this was her first real relationship and Severus was damaged goods. She knew nothing about his childhood, little about his death eater days, and nothing of his love life. She was in love with someone one step up from a stranger.
She found her own robe – still her Hogwarts robe all red and yellow flannel with little lions covering it – and went out to see if she could find him in the expansive house. He wasn't in the kitchen or the library or out by the pool. Finally, she made a pot of coffee and went out to search the vineyards.
She found him after about a mile and an hour. He was sitting with his back against a wooden fence between two of the plants.
"Hello." she said, conjuring him a mug and pouring the coffee into it, still warm from the charmed coffee pot.
"Hello." he said, patting the dirt next to him. She sat carefully, avoiding any unsightly rocks near her bum.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes." he said. "Thank you." It was the carefully clipped tone they spoke to one another with when they were hiding their relationship – when she was his student.
"Harry used to have terrible dreams." she said. "But that's all they are, just dreams." He didn't look at her. "The elves made breakfast."
"Did they?" he said, drinking his coffee and grimacing. He really preferred tea.
"They did. I think we should go eat it and perhaps spend the day in your lab?" she offered. They both knew what she was doing. Offering him something he could understand. Science, logic, and reason. She was giving him an out. He wasted no time in taking it.
"I have notes you should read." he said, standing and helping her up. They walked back to the house silently. She held his hand and he squeezed it tightly. Another day, perhaps, he would be willing to talk about it. She had to hope. For now, they had their experiments in time to begin, and a whole year of Hogwarts before any decisions had to be made.